Silent Night
by SAWesome
Summary: The leaders of the 5th and 10th divisions stop a massive hollow outbreak in the real world....They then discover a little boy... My first Bleach fanfic. R&R please.
1. Through Rain, Sleet or Snow

**Hello everyone, and thank you for taking time out of your day to read the crap my mind has to offer. XD**

**Nah, I shouldn't be too hard on myself though. This is my first Bleach ****fic**** and my second ****fanfic**** altogether. (My first one I still need to wrap up….sigh….) **

**So basically now, this story is something that kind of randomly popped up in my head.****A stupid theory of mine.**** I thoroughly searched through (and when I say thoroughly, I mean "did a half-assed job of…."****) looking**** through ****fics**** and I haven't really seen this idea. I doubt I'm the first to think of it though so it's nothing special really.**

**Just sit back, and enjoy the ride ladies and gentlemen…**

It was a quiet night in the small town… as usual, really. Nothing out of the ordinary. Though this was unknown to a certain group of shinigami who were called upon the area.

Never before have shinigami been asked to go to this town….or at least not to any one's recollection. There was a powerful hollow presence here just recently. So powerful, it required two captains and their vice-captains to quell it. The presence however, died out just as quickly as it had started it seemed.

The renown leaders of divisions ten and five walked down an empty road. It was snowing rather heavily. It was beautiful really… the sun only recently went down, so there still were some light red rays protruding from the clouds as the snow blissfully landed on the earth they walk upon.

This peace was short lived however…..

"FUCK, IT'S NIPPY OUT HERE, AIN'T IT?" A voice rang out. To the shinigami, it boomed all across the town… there was no one around to hear it however….upon further inspection, it seemed most of the town was abandoned.

"Taichoo…" Rangiku Matsumoto chimed. "Do you really have to yell such things out?..."

Said taicho responded in not quite such a polite and joking manner…

"Who the _fuck_ gave you permission to question every god dammed thing I say or do Matsumoto….can you tell me, 'cause I don't really recall." The man's voice was cold and bitter. He didn't even look at her when he said it. He obviously wasn't in the mood to play around.

The man's name was Hizashi Ookami. Tenth squad captain. He was very tall. Standing at approximately 201 centimeters. He had dark hair that was always slicked back.

A man with very ranging personalities. Sometimes some would consider him to be the nicest guy in the Soul Society… other times, he's made some squad members nearly revert to suicide. This was usually when he had a few to drink.

The thing is, he wasn't like Shunsui when he was drunk...or Matsumoto…. He was a mean drunk….. But he didn't even really have to be wasted to be like this. He never resorted to physical abuse. Usually he would just make the person he is angry at feel insignificant and worthless. He would even resort to childish things such as spreading rumors. Matsumoto was above such things however…

Rangiku responded how she normally does. Merely with a sigh.

Fifth squad captain Aizen Sousuke decided to intervene. "Have you been drinking Ookami?..." He asked in his typical mellow voice. Adjusting his glasses a bit after asking. He made sure to not sound too accusing of him.

Hizashi looked at him with a death glare. He was quite good at that…. Such things as faces didn't disrupt Aizen in the slightest however.

"Do I tell _you_ how to run your pansy-assed division?"

Aizen's bored expression didn't change. "I don't recall, no…."

"Then don't tell me how to fuckin' run mine, alright?"

Aizen simply sighed at the man. He was about to say something when his adjutant ever so abruptly decided to pipe up.

"Aizen-taicho has a right t' be concerned ya know…. Ya really should learn to not be so mean to yer subordinates. They may just turn on ya one day." Gin Ichimaru commented in that sarcastic voice that drove some people off the wall sometimes. Hizashi especially hated it though.

He hated everything about the silver haired man. That god dammed smile of his… that voice… that over-confidence of his when he speaks to those of higher rank. Hizashi saw the man as a coward at heart. It seems he has so much confidence because he has such a powerful captain with him all the time to defend him.

There will be a day though when Aizen isn't around… and when that day came, Hizashi knew how much he would love to wipe that smirk off his face. Oh, how much he had fantasized his death…. And right now, despite Aizen being there may be the time….

He grabbed the hilt of his sword, Aizen however stood in his way.

"Ookami… I understand that my lieutenant here may be speaking out of line, and for that I apologize. But please realize that he actually brings up a point…."

Gin chuckled. "I-..." Matsumoto interrupted him by grabbing his arm and she pulled him close to her to whisper in his ear. "Now is just _really_ not the time to act so…well… _you…."_

"How do ya know I wasn't goin' to compliment him."

"Because I just know you."

"Yeah, but that don't-"

"Wait…." Aizen interrupted. "You feel that, don't you?"

"Yeah…" Gin and Rangiku both replied simultaneously.

"It's just a fuckin' _plus_… what're you worried about?" Ookami said languidly.

The snow began picking up. It was more of a blizzard now, becoming very difficult to see.

Aizen closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in frustration, though he did his best to remain calm. "I'm not _worried_ as you say, it's just that we should find that plus before a hollow shows up."

No one said anything after that, there was just silence, and some looks exchanged between the 10th and 5th squad captains as they all headed toward the presence. They finally saw som one out in the distance. It was a little boy. No older than six years old with white hair, just laying down in the snow. It was almost impossible to see him because he blended in so well."

"Poor kid…." Was all Aizen had to say.

Matsumoto looked a little saddened for the poor boy and just nodded in agreement.

Gin and Ookami seemed pretty unfazed.

"So…." Aizen said to break the silence. "Who wants to break it to him…."

"I really dun see the big deal 'er taicho…. Lets just do it. Why do we need to say anythin'.."

"Gin! That's cruel!" Matsumoto responded in a playful tone. A little more playful than she intended because she was kind of serious. Though she did just want to go back. It really _was_ getting cold now…."

"Hey…." The 10th captain intervened. "For once I actually agree with this asshole. Lets just get it over with eh?"

Aizen was about to respond when he suddenly was being paged by Soul Society. There were hollows in a nearby area.

"We'll discuss things later Ookami…." He said in his usual clam voice though there was definitely a hint of anger and frustration in their. "For now e have to take care of some hollow."

He then looked at Gin and Rangiku. "I'll leave that child to you two." And with that, the two captains disappeared into the blizzard with a shunpo…."

"Well…." Gin said while rubbing the back of his head. "Lets go ahead, eh?"

Rangiku just nodded as she walked closely with Gin to the helpless child in the snow.

Gin poked the boy with his zanpakuto a little to get his attention.

"Hey there, kiddo." He said, his grin growing wider.

The little boy seemed scared and went to back away when Rangiku grabbed him.

"Leave this to me." She told Gin.

"Why?"

"Because you're just going to scare him with that mug of yours…."

Gin playfully shoved her a little and kept quiet.

She noticed that the little boy was crying. And had been crying for quite a while.

"What's wrong?"

"I…l…lost my…Mommy… do you know where she is?" He looked up at Matsumoto with a newfound hope in his face.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where she could be. But you see, we're here to-"

"I think I know where yer Mommy is kiddo." Gin interrupted.

"Y….you do?!"

"Yeah…" He leaned forward toweard the boy as if he were telling him a big secret.

"Soul Society…" he whispered in the boy's ears.

The little boy wasn't sure what to think of this silver haired man with the scary smile on his face. But it seemed like he was genuinely trying to help him.

"Soul….society?..."

"That's right."

"Where is _that_?"

Gin thought for a moment just how to describe it. He then simply pointed up toward the sky.

"Up there. _Way_ up there."

The little whit haired boy pointed up to the sky, oblivious.

"_There?!"_

Gin chuckled. "Yeah, that's right."

Rangiku pulled her friend away. "We'll be right back…" She said to the boy with a smile.

When she turned back to Gin, that smile disappeared however.

"Why are you telling him that?"

"What, you want me to tell him the cold hard truth? Think that'll make him pass happily?"

"…"

"Look Ran-chan, I'm bein' nice here 'cause I thought that's what ya wanted. But honesty, I could jus' let hollows gobble the kid up fer all I care. Ya know what I'm sayin' here?"

"You really are such an ass." She said in a playfully serious tone.

"Yeah, but I'm _your_ ass, ain't I?"

"…What..." She replied, giving a soft chuckle.

Gin blushed a little. It wasn't really noticeable though. "Yeah… didn't think that one through…."

Matsumoto just rolled her eyes at him and walked over to the boy followed by Gin.

Gin kneeled down to get to the little boy's level and unsheathed Shinso.

"What's yer name, kiddo?"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro..." he replied hesitantly.

"Ah...that's a nice name ya got there..."

"A…are you taking me to Mommy?"

"Yup."

"Promise?"

"Uh-huh…"

Rangiku looked away. She hated that they had to lie to the boy like that, but Gin was right for once. For once, Ichimaru Gin, the man who she thought didn't know the meaning of the word "morals" was right.

"See her over there?" Gin pointed to Rangiku.

"Yeah…"

"She's pretty, ain't she?"

"Huh?"

"Gin! He's too young for you to be talking to him about stuff like that!"

"Maybe when yer old enough, ya can hook up and go out or somethin', my Ran-chan here likes a good time ya know…"

"Shut up Gin…." She said, laughing. It almost made her forget how freakin' cold she was…."

"Maybe we'll meet again sometime Toshiro, aight?"

Gin pressed the hilt of his zanpakuto against Hitsugaya's forhead and he slowly disappeared….

* * *

**So, how was it? Was this original? Has this been done before? Should I quit writing? Reviews /constructive criticism are welcome and I don't mind flames. Bring 'em on!**

**For now, this will just be a one shot. Merely just a thought of miune I decided to type out because I happened to have the time on my hands. If enough of you think I should continue, I might consider making some more chapters.**

**Thanks for reading. ;)**


	2. Death of a Captain

**Alright! Just two**** day****s**** after I started the ****fanfic****, I finish up chapter 2! Am I awesome or what….**

**The grammar should be a bit better from now on now that I got myself a beta reader. ;)**

**So, yeah…obviously this is now going to be a story. To be frank, I'm not sure where I'm going with this, though I have a ton of ideas flowing in my head…. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Death of a Captain**

**First Division Headquarters – Captain Meeting**

"This meeting is in session!" Yamamoto Shigekuni-Genryusai yelled out. He had waited long enough. Two of the captains couldn't be here due to a hollow outbreak in the real world… but where was the third squad captain...

"I would appreciate complete silence with no interruption for a moment, there is much to discuss…."

It was at this moment that the doors swung open and in walked the tardy third squad captain. "I'm…s…sorry sir…." He said to Yamamoto in a timid voice, not looking him in the eye.

The man's name was Shinkan Naito, third squad captain. A very shy young man who typically keeps to himself. He isn't a very tall man, though not short. About average standing at 173 centimeters. His hair is a dirty blonde, which is very unkempt. He never seems to know what hairstyle is right for him, so he just goes with however it is when he wakes up in the morning…. The other captains of the Gotei 13 see him as one of the current weakest captains, though there is still plenty of room for improvement for him. He is the youngest shinigami to become a captain to date.

Yamamoto simply sighed upon seeing the captain enter so late. "It's alright Shinkan-taicho, just don't let it happen again." He said a bit sternly. If this were most other captains, Yamamoto would definitely have a lot more to say than just that. But, the old man always thought he was a good kid, who always did what was expected of him and had never been late for anything before.

Naito simply nodded and quietly took his spot.

"Anyway…" The Captain-commander spoke again.

"Back to where I was. As you all know, Tsuki-taicho of sixth squad has been very ill over the past few weeks after being attacked by a mysterious hollow."

Yamamoto slowly opened his old, tired eyes. "He has been officially pronounced dead earlier this morning by Unohana-taicho." The old man than nodded to her, telling her to take it from there.

"I tried relentlessly to find out what kind of toxin he was infected by, but it was nothing I've ever seen before, and ate away at him like no other disease I've seen in Soul Society. If there is any slightly good news to report, he went peacefully…." Unohana slowly closed her eyes when she finished.

"How tragic…." Shunsui commented. Ukitake nodded in agreement. No one else seemed to be too effected by the news however.

"Thank you Unohana-taicho…." Yamamoto said, interrupting something Ukitake was about to say. "The memorial service for Tsuki-taicho will be held tonight at Sokyoku Hill…."

There was another pause for a moment or two. This was without a doubt the most peaceful captain meeting so far.

The old man then turns his gaze to Mayuri.

"Kurotsuchi-taicho." He said sternly.

"Hm?"

"It is rare that I ask of this, but this is something that cannot be taken lightly. I want you and Unohana-taicho to make a combined effort in studying this new hollow."

"How abou-"

"I have made my decision!" Yamamoto interrupted coldly. "I know you two aren't exactly the most compatible pair, both of you having very different ideals, but it is truly my belief that you two are the best for the job. You are a true genius in the field of science, and Unohana-taicho's extraordinary ability in the medical field will be a powerful asset for your studies. This is where my confidence is founded."

Yamamoto paused for a moment, letting this all sink in.

"So…" Shunsui decided to break the silence. "Who is going to take his place as sixth squad captain?..."

"I can't be sure yet. I feel Lieutenant Ichimaru may soon be ready, not yet, but soon. Other than him, I don't have any ideas."

"This captain's meeting is adjourned." He said a bit feebly. All of the captains, without a word quickly leave to go back to what they had been doing before.

**Back in the Real World**

When the little boy disappeared, Gin sheathed his zanpakuto and stood up.

"That wasn't so bad…." He looked over at Rangiku who was shivering. He told her to wear some heavier clothing beforehand….

"Ya alright there Ran-chan?..." He asked, his voice even more sarcastic and teasing than usual.

"D…don't…say anything…"

Gin gave a light sigh as he took off his jacket and scarf. "Here…." He said. Till this day, he wasn't sure what it was about Rangiku. But it just made him happy whenever she was happy, he definitely never would even imagine feeling that way about any one else. Quite the opposite in fact….

Rangiku was more than happy to take the offer…. She took them out of his hand and quickly put them on. She was about to thank him when Aizen showed up with an unconscious Captain Hizashi in his arms.

"What happened?!" Rangiku asked as she ran toward Aizen.

Gin didn't understand why she was so concerned over a jerk captain like that; nevertheless, he followed her but remained silent.

"He was attacked by a strange hollow. I'll explain later." There was definitely a sense of urgency in his voice.

Aizen had ordered for a portal to be opened over by where they were now, and it immediately opened after he spoke.

The portal closed immediately after they all walked through. The town once again in perfect tranquility and solitude…..

* * *

**Uh-oh. Is he gonna make it? You'll find out soon. ;)**

**Please leave reviews after reading guys, whether they are positive or negative. They give me more motivation to continue. :p**


	3. Rebirth

**OK. So here is the next chapter. Yup. Again! Crazy, eh?**

**Special thank you to Plastic Dragon again for taking time out to fix my mistakes, as well as Kana090; thank you for the review, and I'll keep your advice in mind. ;)**

**So…yeah! New chapter. I tried to make this one a bit longer for you guys after the rather short update last time. Enjoy!**

* * *

** Chapter 3: Rebirth**

**Third Division Headquarters**

Third squad Lieutenant, Kuchiki Byakuya sat at his desk, working furiously as always.

He was already done with his paperwork when Shinkan Naito slowly stepped into the office.

"Hello taicho." Byakuya said in his typical emotionless voice, without looking up from the papers he was working on.

Byakuya had a good amount of respect for his captain. Naito's fighting skills weren't exactly extraordinary. In fact, Byakuya felt he had probably already surpassed him. But, he was quite young to be a captain and was one to always obey the rules. Byakuya always figured they weren't very different at all.

"Oh, hello Byakuya." Naito replied quietly.

Byakuya wondered for a moment if there was something wrong with his captain. True, Naito was rather shy, but there were exceptions. Namely himself and Ichimaru.

He still couldn't understand why his captain held such a liking for Ichimaru Gin…. He honestly didn't care too much about anything of the sort right now though; there was paperwork to do. If there's something wrong, let _him_ say something.

"Tsuki-taicho died…." Naito uttered out of nowhere. That was the way he usually announced things however. No build up or anything like that, just straight to the point. Another thing Byakuya liked about the slightly younger man.

"Really now…." Byakuya said, attempting to have some more emotion in his voice, but failing miserably.

"Yeah." Was all Naito said, thinking of how to word what he was going to say next. Awkward silence was very common in the third division. It had been proclaimed by most to be "The most peaceful and quiet division in the Gotei 13." This made quite a few people want to join as well as making some people want to stay far away from such a boring place.

"They're thinking of replacing him with Gin someday, but…I think I'm going to see what I can do to make it more likely that the position can be held by you."

Byakuya's eyes widened a bit, and he finally looked up from his work. This was perfect. Although he always respected his captain, being a vice-captain was definitely not his fixation.

He wasn't too sure what to say to his captain. He almost wanted to hug him. _Almost_. Think he actually would do it? But, it was one of the closest timed he ever would hug some one; besides Hisana of course.

Naito simply walked up to Byakuya, put his hand on his shoulder and was somehow able to give him a look that said 'You don't have to say anything.'

Byakuya nodded and sat back down; going back to his work. "Thank you, taicho."

"Not a problem."

* * *

**Fourth Division Headquarters**

Retsu Unohana walked into the headquarters with her usual grace and decided to check up and see how things were going.

Things were quiet. Only a few patients with some minor injuries. Well, minor for a shinigami anyway.

She couldn't turn her mind off. She normally was like that anyway but she always used to be able to make peace with it. Now, she didn't like it at all. She thought about how she failed to save a captain, how she had no idea how to stop the toxin that had killed him, how she's going to have to learn to cooperate with _him_.

She had a feeling this was going to be a long day. This feeling was only reassured when Gin, Rangiku, Aizen, and an unconscious Ookami barged through the main door.

A crowd of fourth division members stormed toward them, taking the large Ookami off of Aizen's hands and placing him on a stretcher. Matsumoto and Gin followed them, but Aizen stayed back with Unohana.

"What happened?" She asked calmly as the two captains walked behind them.

"He was attacked by a hollow. One that I've never seen before." Unohana could sense a lot of urgency in his voice now.

"Describe to me what it looked like." She said sternly as she took out a paper with clipboard and a pen.

"Well, it was a rather small hollow. No larger than myself really. It had strange, blue triangular markings all along its neck. Particularly pale skin. That's all I remember, other than its speed. I've never seen a hollow move so fast."

Unohana wrote all of this down while he was talking and handed the clip board to a fourth squad member. "Search the database for a hollow of this description."

The young man didn't say anything. He just gave a quick nod and ran over to another room.

"This is good. At least this time we have some sort of description of the hollow."

"Do you think it's enough?" Aizen asked a bit worriedly.

Unohana gave a sigh. For once, she simply didn't know what to say. She figured that would be enough for him as the two walked into the room the tenth squad captain had been carried off to.

* * *

**Outskirts of Rukongai 1****st**** District**

His eyes flickered open for a moment, only to realize they were still too heavy. He tried to stand up. _Everything_ felt heavy.

But it was warm. No longer out in the cold to die, but now out in the warm to die. He hated when it was too warm. He would have preferred just dying in that blizzard.

After nearly half an hour, Hitsugaya gained the strength to finally stand up and look around.

All he could think to himself was 'Where am I?'

He couldn't remember anything that happened before he just woke up, besides that he had just been lost in a blizzard.

Any other details for now just drew up a blank. Understandably, this frustrated the very young Hitsugaya greatly.

"Why can't I think!?" He yelled out to no one, pounding his fist onto his head several times and his eyes began to water a little.

If some one were watching, they would without a doubt think the boy was completely out of his mind.

He was, really….

In fact, some one _was_ watching. However, she didn't think he was crazy or out of his mind. He was just lost.

The old lady walked up to him, kneeled down slowly and asked in a sweet old voice. Much like a grandmother speaking to her one and only grandchild.

"Are you alright, honey?"

* * *

**Well, that was _a little_ longer, right? ;)**

**As always, reviews, questions, and criticisms are welcomed with open arms. Please stick around for the next update. **


	4. Unsettling News

**Chapter 4, coming right up.**

**Please try and review after reading. I don't wanna feel like I'm just wasting my time here. ;)**

**And just to clear up any possible confusion, bold text within the story represents a zanpakuto speaking.**

**So here it is again. Enjoy.**

* * *

** Chapter 4: Unsettling News**

**Twelfth Division Headquarters**

The members of 12th squad sat at their monitors trying desperately to find out what the odd new presence in the real world is all about.

"Was it a hollow!?" One of them asked in a baffled tone to no one in particular.

"No it can't be." Another voice rang out.

"How can you say that?! It has all the defining characteristics of a hollow. It's just different. Take your head outta your ass, will ya?!" A third voice yelled agitatedly without looking away from his monitor.

It wasn't very often when Division 12 would be perplexed like this, which has been creating a lot of tension between the researchers already.

It was at times like this that they prayed both for their captain to show up and to never show up at the same time. He almost always would resolve things but his methods of doing so would never exactly be to anyone's favor.

The other squad member was about to reply when the door leading into the room slid open, revealing none other than Kurotsuchi-taicho.

As always, there was an eerie silence in the room now. The atmosphere was even more tense with the expression on Mayuri's face. It was a "smile" as he would call it. But anyone who knew him well enough knew better.

He was _very_ pissed. And was prepared to do anything his sadistic mind could come up with to any one who was to anger him in the slightest.

He was not happy about having to work with Unohana as a "team." He hated to admit it to himself but she was just simply stronger than him. Significantly stronger at that. Which would more likely than not put everything in _her_ favor.

Mayuri could always think his way out of such a dilemma however. Though it will be difficult. There have been many times he just felt like performing some of his riskiest experiments on that damn geezer….

As though he hadn't just been thinking such thoughts, he somewhat pleasantly chimed to every one in the room.

"How are thing going here?'

"Um…" Some one replied tensely. "Not too well sir."

"Oh? And what on earth could not be doing so well?" Mayuri responded as he slowly walked toward the young man, the expression on his face not changing.

The young man obviously was quite intimidated by Mayuri's presence. It was really the first time he spoke with him up close like this. It's terrifying for every one when they first truly meet Mayuri.

Hell, it's terrifying for those with _many_ years of experience with the man.

The squad member was visibly shaking a little and gulped loudly.

"It isn't awfully polite to not reply to your own captain like that you know…." Mayuri chimed in an eerily gentle voice as his left hand suddenly changed color to a dark brown and went for the young shinigami's neck.

* * *

**Fourth Division Headquarters**

Retsu Unohana and Aizen Sousuke stepped into the room holding the unconscious 10th squad captain.

There were several fourth division members working frantically to set everything up for a procedure as well as hooking him up to IVs.

In addition, there was Lieutenant Ichimaru Gin, causally leaning against a corner of the room. His usual smirk not totally gone, but not nearly as apparent as usual. Third seat Matsumoto Rangiku stood next to her captain, her face very serious. A pretty rare sight.

Sure, he was an asshole sometimes. But she would never wish _death_ upon him. There were also qualities she liked about him. Though lately she found such qualities to be rather few in number and far between….

She even stroked the captain's slicked hair a bit. With this, Gin scowled a bit.

'I s'pose I never got to meet him personally. But how can she even have any appreciation fer a guy like that…"

**Well, she takes a liking to **_**you**_**, doesn't she?** His zanpakuto replied with a hint of sadism in his voice.

Gin decided to not reply to Shinso. The zanpakuto took this as a victory and could only chuckle at Gin's expense. With that, Gin chuckled a bit himself, getting a few strange stares from some of the people in the room.

"I'm sorry but you two need to leave for now." Unohana said impassively to Rangiku and Gin.

Gin began walking out. 'Finally…' He said to himself. He looked back at Rangiku before leaving.

"Ya heard the captain, didn't ya Ran-chan?"

Rangiku didn't reply as she usually was known to. Instead she simply nodded and followed the silver haired shinigami out of the room. Aizen was about to join them when Unohana lightly grabbed onto his arm.

"If you don't mind Aizen-taicho. I think I may need you here as well."

Aizen looked back at Unohana and gave a soft smirk. "I guess I don't have much else to do right now anyway…."

"That's good to hear." She said, still with no real emotion.

"Unohana-taicho!" The unseated fourth squad member yelled as he ran in the room. "I searched throughout the database for a hollow of this description and nothing shows up..."

Unohana gave a light sigh. "Thank you."

What she was about to say next was a bit difficult for her. "Could you bring me Kurotsuchi-taicho please? Tell him I asked for him myself."

"Hai!" The young shinigami said quickly before running off toward the Twelfth Squad.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Aizen asked Unohana skeptically.

"No. But Yamamoto does…."

* * *

**Twelfth Squad Headquarters**

Mayuri reached for the young shinigami's throat. He was frozen in shock, simply letting the captain grab him when he was interrupted by some one bursting through the door.

"My apologies Kurotsuchi-taicho!" The fourth squad member yelled, "But Unohana-taicho requests for you to see here ASAP!"

Mayuri gave a disgruntled sigh and turned away from the young twelfth squad member, his hand changing back to its usual paste-like color.

"Some unsettling news she wishes to share with me, hm?"

* * *

**Rukongai First District**

"This is it." The old lady said to the young Hitsugaya.

The house wasn't _too _bad Hitsugaya thought. But it certainly didn't compare to his old house. Come to think of it, he still had no idea where he was.

"Um, why am I here?" Hitsugaya asked the lady.

She looked at him, her face now showing a hint of sadness.

'So this boy still doesn't even know that he's dead?' She thought to herself.

She didn't like having to be the one to tell a little boy such grim news. It was the first time she ever had to as a matter of fact.

"Do you know what death is?" She asked in as sweet a voice she could muster.

"Sort of… isn't it where you fall asleep for ever or something."

The granny flashed a small, warming smile. "I guess you can say it's like that. But you see. Every one has what's called a soul within themselves. And when they die, the body stays on earth to 'sleep' just as you said. But that soul is brought here to soul society by a shinigami."

She knew this would probably be over the boy's head so she was prepared to explain it in a better way. To her surprise however, he nodded and seemed to understand.

"Well…is my Mom dead too…and my Dad?" He asked, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

The kind, elderly women kneeled down and simply hugged the young boy.

"Until you find them, you'll have me to keep you company Toushirou. And There's also a girl who lives here who I think you'll learn to like. I promise you'll never be alone."

Hitsugaya simply hugged back, fighting away his tears.

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**So there you have it for this update. Stick around for more. Please read and review every one. ;)**


	5. Subtle Awakening

**Not much for me to say… here's the next chapter. ;)**

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** Chapter 5: ****Subtle Awakening**

**Lieutenant Communal Station**

The quiet Lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe let a hell butterfly rest upon his index finger, relaying a message on it that shall be sent to all vice captains of the gotei 13.

"_All lieutenants report to the communal room ASAP."_ Was all he deemed necessary to put on it before letting the butterfly drift away.

Technically speaking, there really was no lieutenant who commanded all other lieutenants; like with the captains having Yamamoto as their commander. But being the vice-captain of the captain-commander, he was allowed to act as a sort of unofficial figure head of the vice-captains.

The man let out a muffled yawn as he leaned against a wall awaiting the arrival of his fellow vice-captains.

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**Fourth Division Headquarters**

10th squad Captain Hizashi Ookami was completely set in by now and with that, Unohana gave the fourth division members orders to leave the room for now, leaving only herself and Aizen with Ookami.

Without saying anything she walked up to the left side of the bed, Aizen stood on the right; both captains towering over the unconscious 10th squad captain. There was complete silence as Unohana performed some standard tests on the man. The only sound was the soft clicking sound Aizen's glasses made when he corrected their position on his face.

"Alright, now I just…" Unohana was interrupted as the door opened, revealing Mayuri.

"So what's the matter Unohana? I _was_ in the middle of something you know." Mayuir said in a calm, somewhat gentle voice.

He then looked at who was resting in the bed.

"My, my. What happened here?" Mayuri commented in a sarcastically concerned voice.

Unohana inwardly sighed, however she managed to give a smile to the insane 12th squad captain. Might as well try and reduce as much tension as possible.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted you while you were working, but this is relevant to the case Yamamoto-soutaicho just gave to us."

Mayuri simply nodded and walked up toward the foot of the bed.

"Wait…." Aizen interrupted Mayuri.

"I'm still a bit in the dark here. Why are you two being ordered to treat Hizashi?"

Unohana closed her eyes softly. "You know how Tsuki-taicho had been sick for the past week."

Aizen's eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me…"

"I'm afraid so. I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet, but this does seem to be a similar case."

Mayuri obviously a bit annoyed at being ignored like that looked over to Aizen.

"Why are you here anyway?"

"He was with Hizashi-taicho when he was attacked. It will be more convenient for him to be here if either of us have any questions during the research."

No one said anything after this for a moment or so. Unohana decided to break the silence however.

"I'm going to see what I can do to at least get him into a state of consciousness."

With that, Mayuri reached into his captain's haiori. "Oh, I think I have just the thing to wake him _right_ up." He chimed in an almost excited tone.

"Oh. No, that's fine." Unohana said, a bit of desperation in her voice.

She lifted her hands over Ookami's chest and they formed a dark green aura around them.

"This worked to wake Tsuki-taicho up from his state of unconsciousness. Hopefully it can work again."

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**Third Division Headquarters**

Naito now sat at his own desk, finishing up the paperwork of his own that was due.

"Well, I'm done taicho." Byakuya said the moment he sat down.

"Alright Byakuya, you can just leave them on your desk there. Thank you. You may leave if you want."

Byakuya gave a slight nod and went for the door handle to leave, however some one was on the other side that already opened it, without knocking. Which meant it could only be one person….

"Ichimaru." Was all Byakuya said to greet the fifth squad lieutenant.

Ichimaru Gin, although he never was officially involved with the third division always seemed to like hanging around when he really had nothing else to do and shoot the breeze with the captain. He even went so far sometimes as to do paperwork and other types of chores around the division. Many shinigami called him "Third squad's unofficial vice-captain."

However, with the way Byakuya feels about such a title, most have found it to be a wise decision to stop.

"Hiya Baya." Gin said to Byakuya in return, his grin growing a bit wider. He knew how much it pissed the third squad vice-captain off.

Byakuya simply closed his eyes. His voice had a coldness to it that could freeze the air around them.

"Ichimaru. If you call me that one more time…."

Before he could continue, Naito broke up the tension.

"Hey Gin how are you?"

"Not too bad, yerself?"

"I guess things could be better…."

Just as he had said this, a hell butterfly fluttered by Ichimaru. He let it land on his finger as he listened to the message. Then in what seemed like a couple of seconds, the butterfly flew away.

"What is it?" Naito asked, not looking up from his work now.

"Vice-captain meeting." Gin replied as he looked over to Byakuya.

"I'll see you two later then." Naito said.

Neither gave a reply, Gin simply opened the door.

"After you." He remarked in his usual sarcastic tone to Byakuya.

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**Fourth Division Headquarters**

After nearly a full minute, the tenth squad captain finally began showing signs of alertness.

He began opening his eyes slowly, but quickly closed them.

"Fuck, it's bright…." He said feebly.

Unohana gave a slight sigh of relief, discontinuing the treatment.

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**Alrighty.**** As always, read and review every one****Hope you had a marvelous valentines day, and for those who don't happen to have some one 'round this time of year. ****Ya****ain't**** alone **


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